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All posts for the month June, 2007

Just in case anyone believes that WinAntivirus Pro is a real antivirus program, know that it is NOT.It is spyware, and a scam that attempts to scare Windows users into download and probably pay for its fake utilities.I use Linux, but its pop-up webpage (http://amaena.com/securityworm58&#8230;.) attempted to tell me:

‘Your system is currently sending private information and documents to a remote computer. One of these processes (Win32res.exe) has just sent us the following information:– \Windows\System32– \Program Files\Internet Explorer– \My Documents– Drive C:\ filesYour Operation System: unknown’

I have none of that, of course, Note that it was unable to tell me what my ‘operation system’ is, despite the fact that my browser makes that info freely available, as it’s supposed to, so that legitimate websites can adjust their presentations.

If you use Windows, there is an excellent free antivirus program called AVG at http://www.grisoft.com. There are several free anti-spyware programs too.

— ~~~Captain RatIt’s a friendly universe…Let’s make it a peaceful world.~~~~~~~~~~~~Thought for the day:

Have you ever bought a container of yogurt, ice cream, or soup at a convenience store, only to find that the only available utensil is a spork? Then you understand the frustration of trying to eat the last half-ounce at the bottom with this hybrid invention. For those who have never seen one, a spork, or foon, is a plastic spoon tipped with pseudo-tines so it can also fork.

I have discovered a solution. I found, through experimentation, that one can cleanly remove the pseudo-tines with a pair of scissors. The material is soft enough to be cut without cracking. If you encounter a more brittle variety, a brief application of heat from a flame should soften it enough. Be careful not to ignite or melt the spork. If you have no scissors (perhaps you’re a runner), a pocketknife or even a pair of fingernail clippers should do it.

You may have observed that I am offering a tip that entails removing a tip. You may call that irony. Actually, it’s plasticy.

THIS ISN’T MY SPACEOne of the most annoying computerisms, probably because Microsoft started it, is adding "my" to everything. My Documents, My Pictures, My Settings, My Music…and MySpace. Why add ‘My’? If it’s your computer, OF COURSE the files are yours. If they were somebody ele’s you could put them in a SomeOneElses folder.With MySpace it gets really confusing. Do you have My Space? No, I don’t have your space, I have my own space. If I have a space, it’s my space, but it’s not MySpace.My, my.

Another annoying windowsism is FOLDERS. We had a perfectly good word in the beginning: DIRECTORIES. But Bill Gates decided we couldn’t understand that unless we imagined that they were physical pieces of cardboard enveloping sheets of paper. Condescending.

I found a great new flashlight at the 99 cent store. It has a bright 2-LED beam, and never needs batteries. It has a rechargeable battery and a hand-powered generator to recharge it or light it directly. You just squeeze it repeatedly.It’s called the Trulight. That’s an unimaginative name. It would have sold much better as the Mastur-Light.

— ~~~Captain RatIt’s a friendly universe…Let’s make it a peaceful world.~~~~~~~~~~~~Thought for the day:

Tesla was rightOver 100 years ago he said there was a way to transmit power at a distance without wires, and he built devices that did it. But the "power structure" at the time feared that, without wires, they would lose the ability to make money from it, so he was discredited, and he withheld his secret.It is only now that scientists have finally combined willingness and ability to demonstrate wireless power transmission by lighting a 60-watt bulb over 2 meters away from the power source. The secret, it seems, is to tune both source and receptor to the same frequency. That way the power goes only to its destination, and untuned items are unaffected.Obviously, this will be useful for laptop computers and other portable devices, but on a larger scale it will enable tapping multiple energy sources in many diverse locations, making solar and wind generation more practical.http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,279153,00.html#So, perhaps we will finally get to use technology we should have had for 100 years. The delay shows once again it is our economic system, enabling greed and wealth to control too much, that stifles genius and creativity and robs society of its benefits.

The results are in. According to Psychology Today, women who have sex regularly without a condom are less likely to be depressed and less prone to suicide than those who don’t have sex, or who use condoms.The no-condom part is because there are natural substances in semen that improve brain chemistry.